FCC's Pai Finally Comments On Trump License Challenge Tweet, But O'Rielly Defends Trump's Reaction

Pai

FCC Chairman AJIT PAI finally broke his silence over President TRUMP's threat to the licenses held by NBC and other networks over stories critical of him that he terms "fake news," addressing TRUMP's comment and tweet by noting in remarks delivered to a MERCATUS CENTER forum at GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY that the FCC does not have the authority to pull licenses over news content.

PAI told the conference WEDNESDAY (10/17), "I believe in the First Amendment.  The FCC, under my leadership, will stand for the First Amendment. Under the law, the FCC does not have the authority to revoke a license of a broadcast station based on the content of a particular newscast.” To a follow-up question about whether the FCC can determine what "fake news" is, PAI said, "Traditionally that has not been within the FCC's jurisdiction.  I'm a lawyer by training, of course. I tend to hew as closely as I can to the terms of the Communications Act and to other applicable legal principles, and so that's the standard that we adopt, at least going forward."

Meanwhile, ARS TECHNICA, expanding on reporting by TR DAILY, reports that PAI's fellow Republican Commissioner MICHAEL O'RIELLY, at a spectrum management conference on FRIDAY, took TRUMP's side in the battle with the news media, saying, "I think that the president is rightfully venting his experiences and disappointment with how the coverage has been occurring regarding his administration. I've been surprised how vitriolic that the coverage has been. I think that President CLINTON got better coverage during the middle of impeachment than President TRUMP is getting these days."  However, O'RIELLY declined to go as far as TRUMP in suggesting licenses could be challenged, adding, "I'm pretty consistent on licensing and would not want politics to influence our decision-making. I believe in the independence of the agency."

TRUMP issued a tweet on OCTOBER 11th saying, "With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!"  He followed that with an additional comment later that day reinforcing the idea; Democratic FCC Commissioners JESSICA ROSENWORCEL and MIGNON CLYBURN immediately thereafter criticized the President for his stance, and PAI's hesitancy to join in the criticism for six days stood in contrast to their response and to a strong bipartisan backlash to the President's comments.

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